PM Modi reaches UK; likely to seal FTA

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday reached the UK with the formal signing of the landmark India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) expected to be the key outcome of his two-day trip.

Modi will hold wide-ranging talks with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday. Starmer will host Modi at Chequers, the British prime minister's official country residence near London. Commerce minister Piyush Goyal is likely to sign the FTA alongside his UK counterpart Jonathan Reynolds after three years of intense negotiations. The UK views the deal as its biggest trade win since Brexit and hopes it will inject fresh momentum into research and technology partnerships with India.

In 2023-24, bilateral trade between the two countries crossed $55 billion. The UK is India's sixth largest investor with $36 billion invested so far, while nearly 1,000 Indian companies in Britain employ around 1,00,000 people. Indian investments in the UK stand at close to $20 billion.